‘Doctor Who’ thing of the day: geek fave Mark Sheppard to appear in Season Six

The upcoming Season Six is sounding better and better all the time… not that it ever sounded bad. Now we get word that Mark Sheppard — the honest crook Badger in Firefly; the dog lover Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica; credits on Warehouse 13, Supernatural, the geek-adjacent Leverage and 24, etc, etc — will be making a major appearance as the season opens. From Airlock Alpha:

Sheppard has signed on for a role in the upcoming sixth season of BBC’s “Doctor Who.” No details have been revealed on the role yet, only that he will play a character called Canton Everett Delaware III, a role the Beeb described as “huge,” playing a major part in a two-episode story.

The actor was scheduled to appear at ValleyCon 36 in Fargo, N.D., however he had to pull out of the event when he got word that he will step into the Tardis for the two-part season premiere.

“We had just booked Mark’s airline tickets a week ago when less than 12 hours later he got the dream job of any kid who grew up in England,” ValleyCon 36 explained in a statement. “He [has] landed a huge role in the new ‘Doctor Who.'”

Woo-hoo! For Sheppard and for us.

Let the speculation upon the whatsitness of Canton Everett Delaware III commence.

(Here’s something else not-Doctor Who related about Sheppard I just discovered: His dad is Blank Reg, W. Morgan Sheppard. How cool is that?)